Thursday, October 01, 2015

Learning to be Content

Philippians 4:11-12 I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I
know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the
secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or
empty, with plenty or little.

That verse does not describe me, but rather what I aspire to. Today I am more content with what Ruby's schedule is, and that is going to have to be enough.

Ruby had a good day, but a looong night. While she's on the current chemo, she has to have eye drops every six hours to help combat conjunctivitis. That means prying her eyes open around 10:30PM and 4:30AM. Not so fun for my girl. The late night one went quickly and she fell right back asleep, but the 4:30AM one kept her up for quite a while, shifting around in her crib and talking to herself. Then they started her morning chemo at 5:30, so it was after 6 before either of us got back to sleep. Shift change for the nurses happens at 7, so total sleep was not much.

Despite all of THAT, she was happy all morning. A new-to-me doctor came around just after 8AM to check on her and authorize that she receive a Hep-lock so that she could be unhooked for the day (until her 5PM chemo). Hip Hip Hooray!! Ruby ate a great breakfast, showing no signs of nausea or even loss of appetite. We ran around the fountains, worked on speech, perused the halls, and played with a therapy dog until 10AM when it was time to come back for more fun eye drops. We stuck around the room after that, waiting for rounds. However, they never came. Still not sure what happened as rounds with doctor(s), nurse practitioners, pharmacists, nurses... happen every morning between 10-12. So no major answers today. I did talk to the doctor from this morning about whether Ruby's change-up was a change in treatment, or just a mis-explanation/understanding. He said the later....nothing has changed from her original treatment plan.

Lunch followed by a thorough nap ate up the middle of our day, and when Ruby woke up it was 4PM which is eye drop time again. With chemo starting at 5 (and chaining her to the room for three hours), we ran around once more to get some wiggles out. It turns out that wasn't too necessary because the chemo this evening seemed to take some of her energy. Her appetite too; she ate very little at dinner and wanted to cuddle and suck her thumb. Ruby's smiles and personality were still intact though, as she charmed all of the nurses during vitals and hall interactions. (She even gave Zoe, one of our favorite nurses from last time, a running hug.)

Hair is definitely thinning. When I brush it or run my fingers through it, Ruby's hairline hasn't changed, but for the first inch or so from line to back of the head is short, thin hair. It does not reach her ponytails. Thankfully, she still does have ponytails, but they are thinning.

So the plan (though always unofficial) at this point is for Ruby to receive her last installment of this first set of chemo for round two tomorrow morning at 5AM. That will finish at 8, and three hours later she will get a shot of chemo. At that point, we *should* be cleared to go home (and give her eye drops ourselves in the middle of the night). Then we *should* return on Wednesday morning and repeat this same 48-hour process, but stay in the hospital at the end of it.